


Bubbly

by IRegretNothingAndEverything



Series: Bubbly [1]
Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Child Gordon Freeman, Fae Gordon Freeman, For the first part, Gordon is referred to with they/them, Tube Bubby, and then he/him, bubby uses he/him and xe/xem pronouns in this, cause of trans reasons, for a lil bit, he's a lil man, it's not really touched on but he is a changeling, like six maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:08:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27626566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IRegretNothingAndEverything/pseuds/IRegretNothingAndEverything
Summary: Once upon a time, a fae child wandered into a room, where a man in a tube was trying to sleep.
Series: Bubbly [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2019895
Comments: 1
Kudos: 97





	Bubbly

**Author's Note:**

> Hi uhhh, I fell in love with this AU which just started with Gordon calling Bubby 'bubbly'. It's now. This.

There were moments Bubby had to go back into the tube. It wasn’t fun, of course, and xe kind of hated it a lot, actually, but sometimes lab injuries meant he had to recover in the tube. 

The worst part about it was how boring it was. There was nothing there to entertain, nothing to do but float there with xyr thoughts, which weren’t the best most of the time. 

So when the door was pushed open, Bubby’s head perked up suddenly. It was the door behind him, so he couldn’t see it, but xe could hear it click shut again, and Bubby stayed slightly tense, waiting for someone to come around the side of his tube. 

When they did, Bubby’s eye line had to go rather sharply downwards. 

It was a child. Their eyes were glowing brightly, shining around the room as they looked around. They were in a strange green tunic, with a rope tied around their waist like a belt. There was a pause, as the child looked around, before finally, their eyes settled on Bubby. 

“Oh!” The child grinned with too sharp teeth, and Bubby nervously smiled back. There was a child. What the fuck was happening? Did Black Mesa loose an entire child? Xe wouldn’t put it past them. “Hi there!” 

“Hey.” Bubby knew in an instant that the tube goo distorted the word from the strange look the child sent xem, but it didn’t seem to deter them, as they settled down, sitting in front of the tube, grinning up at xem. 

“What’s your name?” It seemed... a very deliberate way of asking the question, the way the child paused carefully before saying it, and Bubby sighed softly. 

“Bubby.” 

The child frowned at him. “Bubbly? That doesn’t sound like a name.” 

“No. Bubby.” Xe said it carefully, but knew again it didn’t fit. The child frowned quietly, before shaking their head. 

“I didn’t get that. Imma keep calling you Bubbly though!” They grinned up at him, and Bubby sighed, smiling back down at them, without much thought. “Woah! You got teeth like me!” Quite literally the child lit up, eyes glowing brighter, and Bubby had to block xyr eyes for a moment, laughing softly. 

“That I do.” Xe grinned again, and the child grinned right back, too sharp teeth on display, before pausing, shaking their head. 

“I gotta go! They’re gonna find me. I’ll come back though!” The child grinned, and, in a moment, was gone. Bubby blinked, but forced himself back from the glass, closing xyr eyes to feign sleep as the sharp click of shoes against tile came around to look at him. 

A moment later, they left, and Bubby peaked an eye open. There was no one in the room but him. 

The child didn’t come back that night. 

* * *

God, his head hurt. That whole test as a mess. This entire thing was fucked up. Bubby huffed, managing to get back to his feet, leaning back against the wall. His head pounded with each movement, and Bubby wouldn’t be surprised if he had a concussion. 

The person in the HEV suit, Bubby hadn’t caught his name, rounded the corner, head turning before catching on him. 

“Are you the motherfucker that fucked up this whole experiment?” It had to be, of course. He didn’t think anyone in the control room did it, and the only other people it could be was this guy, or the security guard that wandered in. Actually it was probably that second one. Great, now Bubby was the asshole. 

But the person in the HEV suit didn’t seem to mind. He paused, before reaching up, tugging off the helmet. 

Too much hair flopped out of that helmet than should have been possible, brown and fluffy. Bright green eyes, almost like they were glowing, triggered something in Bubby’s memory, and for a moment, Bubby felt he knew this person. There was something familiar about him. 

Then the person grinned at him with too sharp teeth, and Bubby remembered his kid on the roof of the building, clinging onto his and Coomer’s hands with tears in his eyes, promising to return for them. 

“Nice to see you again too, Bubbly.” 

**Author's Note:**

> If y'all want I will COMPLETELY write more of this AU, I'm in love with Fae Gordon and him calling Bubby 'Bubbly' is just adorable.


End file.
